Suebob's Red Stapler

Where I want to sit and work on my novel. Tortuguero, Costa Rica

Ok, so here we are. Day 50 of this crazy journey, and my 50th birthday. Who knew I’d get to be a half-century old and still feel like myself? Weird, it is.

Who knew I’d be able to write 50 posts in a row on a schedule? Not me! I mean, it isn’t exactly climbing Everest, but it just isn’t something I have attempted or wanted to attempt before.

People kept asking me about what I was going to do for my 50th post. Ok, maybe 3 people asked. It may come as a surprise to you (especially if you don’t know me well) that I didn’t really have a Plan For That. Foresight is not my strongest point (but on the other hand, I’m generally excellent at living in the moment!)

The other day, my friend Laurie from Laurie Writes asked me which charity I would choose for her “friend” to donate to. Being as dense as a 1970s vegetarian nutloaf, I asked what issues her friend was into, at which point she admitted she was planning a donation for my birthday. D’oh!

I had to go back and look at the list of 49 charities. It was daunting. The list looked longer than I had imagined it would. So many needs – how to pick just one? What is most important?

I finally took a deep breath and picked WriteGirl, a writing mentorship program for young women.

It doesn’t address the most pressing needs (I’d argue water and food come first) or the people in the world who are worst off. It doesn’t solve a tangible problem.

But I have been in the room with the mentors and girls as we all worked on our writing together, and I can say this: it brings magic into the world. It provides the writers involved – both the girls AND the mentors – with a bright clear path to better, braver writing, more joy and a world where possibilities sparkle and shine.

Hyperbole? No, I don’t think so. Something amazing happens when 140 women and girls get together and work hard on writing and cheer for one another. It is a banquet for the soul, and I wish every writer could have the experience. (I wrote a post about it a while back, when I could go to workshops, before I moved too far away).

The girls who go through WriteGirl are all bright, but they aren’t necessarily the girls who are headed to college before they become mentees. They attend some of the largest, toughest, most overcrowded urban Los Angeles high schools. So far, every girl who has gone through the program has gone to college.

WriteGirl introduces them to the idea that their words can influence people, make them a living, and bring them joy. And in return, the girls remind the mentors of what it was like to be young women writers whose talent hadn’t been smooshed down by editors and deadlines and paychecks – writers for whom the page is a playground of possibility. This is a priceless exchange.

Oh, and another thing? Every year, the program produces a book with writing in it by all of the girls and most of the mentors, so each girl leaves the program a published writer. Cool!

So…if you want to help the world, donate to any of the charities on my list, or any other charity you know is doing good work. But if you want me to pick one for you to honor my 50th birthday, I vote for WriteGirl.

A big thanks for playing along for the past weeks. I’m amazed that anyone would keep reading, and I appreciate those who did. My blog readers are the cherry on the sundae of my life. I’m grateful for each of you.

OK – now for a quiz. The winner gets to designate which of the 49 charities they’d like $50 donated to. AND $30 in iTunes gift cards. In the event of a tie, the winner will be drawn at random. And since these are random questions, extra points are given for creativity. Hey, it’s my contest.

Random Crap About Suebob: 10 Questions. I don’t think you can look these up anywhere, so wild guesses will suffice.
1. What floral scent do I hate? (not Patchouli. I don’t think Patchouli is even a flower. I think it is the smell of Satan’s toejam).
2. What vegetable would be served at Suebob’s last meal?
3. If I could have tickets to any event, what would it be?
4. My favorite color?
5. How much does it say I weigh on my driver’s license?
6. What breed of dog do I call Goldie most often? (her nickname)
7. Favorite san serif font that will out me as hopelessly stuck in the 1980s?
8. Favorite cellist?
9. Where am I going on my next train trip?
10. How old is Goldie?

It’s my 50th Birthday Celebration, Day 47. I had this bright birthday idea – because I feel so lucky and have pretty much everything I could ever need, I am asking people to get involved with charities, if they are so inspired, in lieu of any fabulous birthday presents you were planning on sending me (or not).

I am featuring a different charity every day for 50 days leading up to my 50th birthday to give you plenty of chances to get involved. I started on May 18. I wanted to give a voice to different good works around the globe. If you ARE inspired to take action, please leave me a comment and let me know that you did. This is all I want for my birthday – to spread some love and kindness. One thousand thanks.

I love the simple idea behind the Paradigm Project and how well they quantify their results. Their simple idea? Stoves for people who cook over wood fires. This helps people and the environment.

Check out their beautifully illustrated intro to their work. They have a unique model in that they sell the carbon offsets created by this business to continue financing their work.

From their website:
We align ourselves with local business partners and global relief and development organizations that have a significant presence and a long history of success working in the developing world. We then work with these partners to identify and develop scalable emissions reduction project opportunities that drive economic, environmental and social value into the communities they serve. We handle all carbon asset development activities and work closely with our partners to build market-based supply chains that involve CBOs (Community Based Organizations) and other local stakeholders in the distribution and sale of Rocket Stoves.

$40 buys a stove. Here’s how to donate.

Previously featured organizations:
ONE
Lupus Foundation of America
Scholarship America
Media Matters for America
Boys and Girls Club
Your Local Food Bank
Girls for a Change
Operation Smile
Wheels for Humanity
National Security Archive
Books for Africa
Seed Savers Exchange
MAP International
The Fresh Air Fund
Electronic Frontier Foundation
Arghand
Impact Personal Safety
Kristin Brooks Hope Center
Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund
Light Up the World Foundation
Planned Parenthood
Doctors Without Borders
Heifer International
Team Rubicon
Kiva
The Carter Center
Bikes Not Bombs
Friends of Maddie
ProPublica
Surfrider Foundation
Livestrong
United Through Reading
Operation Shower
The Liz Logelin Foundation
KidSave
American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
Kids Vs Global Warming
Help a Mother Out
Direct Relief International
WriteGirl
Accelerated Cure for Multiple Sclerosis
Women for Women
Epic Change
Amnesty International

It’s my 50th Birthday Celebration, Day 45. I had this bright birthday idea – because I feel so lucky and have pretty much everything I could ever need, I am asking people to get involved with charities, if they are so inspired, in lieu of any fabulous birthday presents you were planning on sending me (or not).

I am featuring a different charity every day for 50 days leading up to my 50th birthday to give you plenty of chances to get involved. I started on May 18. I wanted to give a voice to different good works around the globe. If you ARE inspired to take action, please leave me a comment and let me know that you did. This is all I want for my birthday – to spread some love and kindness. One thousand thanks.

Erin with a hangover. This picture makes me laugh so hard!

I tried not to do many disease-specific organizations, because there are just so many diseases and who is to say which is more deserving? Cancer? Diabetes? Blindness?

But I had to do this one for Erin, my friend who is also known by her blog name, the Queen of Spain.

I have seen Erin battle Lupus for several years now and have seen how it has turned her life upside down. She has gone from a nonstop dynamo to someone who has to guard her energy carefully, never sure when she is going to run out and collapse. I have seen her lose her memory and get attacked by internet trolls who claim she is lying about her illness. I have seen her lose weight to a scary degree and then, full of disease-calming steroids, bloat up to a point where she looked nothing like her former self.

She has handled this all with strength and honesty and focus. It humbles me and makes me proud to call her a friend.

Lupus is the most baffling, weird, quirky, obnoxious disease. It can manifest in so many ways and comes out of nowhere. So, for Erin, today’s post features the Lupus Foundation of America.

From their website:
The LFA was established in 1977 when local lupus organizations came together to bring national attention and resources to lupus. Since that time, the LFA has evolved into the field’s preeminent nonprofit lupus organization with nearly 300 chapters, support groups and community representatives nationwide.

The LFA plays a key role in bringing together all stakeholders — researchers, clinicians, elected officials, policy makers, industry leaders, other national organizations, and people affected by lupus — to address lupus on the federal, state and local levels.

Donate here. They are also looking for people to be Lupus advocates.

Previously featured organizations:
Scholarship America
Media Matters for America
Boys and Girls Club
Your Local Food Bank
Girls for a Change
Operation Smile
Wheels for Humanity
National Security Archive
Books for Africa
Seed Savers Exchange
MAP International
The Fresh Air Fund
Electronic Frontier Foundation
Arghand
Impact Personal Safety
Kristin Brooks Hope Center
Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund
Light Up the World Foundation
Planned Parenthood
Doctors Without Borders
Heifer International
Team Rubicon
Kiva
The Carter Center
Bikes Not Bombs
Friends of Maddie
ProPublica
Surfrider Foundation
Livestrong
United Through Reading
Operation Shower
The Liz Logelin Foundation
KidSave
American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
Kids Vs Global Warming
Help a Mother Out
Direct Relief International
WriteGirl
Accelerated Cure for Multiple Sclerosis
Women for Women
Epic Change
Amnesty International

It’s my 50th Birthday Celebration, Day 44. Here’s the scoop: because I feel so lucky and have pretty much everything I could ever need, I am asking people to get involved with charities, if they are so inspired, in lieu of any fabulous birthday presents you were planning on sending me (or not).

I am featuring a different charity every day for 50 days leading up to my 50th birthday to give you plenty of chances to get involved. I started on May 18. I wanted to give a voice to different good works around the globe. If you ARE inspired to take action, please leave me a comment and let me know that you did. This is all I want for my birthday – to spread some love and kindness. One thousand thanks.

The other day I went to the cell phone store and the same guy who sold me my phone 5 years ago was still working there. I walked in and immediately started haranguing the poor guy about going to college. He’s young, he’s smart – I think he should go to college. But I think almost everyone should.

Scholarship America is built on that premise – that everyone should get the chance to go to college.

From their website:
Scholarship America believes that every student deserves an opportunity to go to college, regardless of their financial status.

Since its founding, Scholarship America has distributed more than $2.5 billion to 1.7 million students across the country through various programs including Dollars for Scholars, Dreamkeepers, and Scholarship Management Services. As we celebrate our 50th anniversary and enter our second half-century of helping students, we invite you to become a part of our mission by donating or volunteering today.

Me on graduation day, in the back yard of my student hovel.

Donate here. They also need local volunteers.

Previously featured organizations:
Media Matters for America
Boys and Girls Club
Your Local Food Bank
Girls for a Change
Operation Smile
Wheels for Humanity
National Security Archive
Books for Africa
Seed Savers Exchange
MAP International
The Fresh Air Fund
Electronic Frontier Foundation
Arghand
Impact Personal Safety
Kristin Brooks Hope Center
Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund
Light Up the World Foundation
Planned Parenthood
Doctors Without Borders
Heifer International
Team Rubicon
Kiva
The Carter Center
Bikes Not Bombs
Friends of Maddie
ProPublica
Surfrider Foundation
Livestrong
United Through Reading
Operation Shower
The Liz Logelin Foundation
KidSave
American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
Kids Vs Global Warming
Help a Mother Out
Direct Relief International
WriteGirl
Accelerated Cure for Multiple Sclerosis
Women for Women
Epic Change
Amnesty International

It’s my 50th Birthday Celebration, Day 43 Here’s the scoop: because I feel so lucky and have pretty much everything I could ever need, I am asking people to get involved with charities, if they are so inspired, in lieu of any fabulous birthday presents you were planning on sending me (or not).

I am featuring a different charity every day for 50 days leading up to my 50th birthday to give you plenty of chances to get involved. I started on May 18. I wanted to give a voice to different good works around the globe. If you ARE inspired to take action, please leave me a comment and let me know that you did. This is all I want for my birthday – to spread some love and kindness. One thousand thanks.

At last we get to an unabashedly liberal organization, Media Matters for America. If you know me at all, you’re probably wondering what took so long. I wanted to try and feature organizations that would appeal to almost everyone, but we’re in the last days of this thing and it is MY birthday, so you get a bit of progressive politics from me.

Media Matters spends a lot of time fighting the constant barrage of lies from Fox “News,” and Fox returns the favor by spending a lot of time tearing down Media Matters and trying to make people think it is the worst thing since the Red Guard. You might think they’d spend their time proving they are telling the truth instead.

I think Fox “News” is bad for our country. I think it isn’t news as much as it is a mouthpiece of the Republican agenda, and I worry about how much it has damaged the credibility and the tone of news broadcasts. So I’m all for the work Media Matters does. Long may they wave.

From their website:
Media Matters for America is a Web-based, not-for-profit, 501(c)(3) progressive research and information center dedicated to comprehensively monitoring, analyzing, and correcting conservative misinformation in the U.S. media.

Using the website mediamatters.org as the principal vehicle for disseminating research and information, Media Matters posts rapid-response items as well as longer research and analytic reports documenting conservative misinformation throughout the media. Additionally, Media Matters works daily to notify activists, journalists, pundits, and the general public about instances of misinformation, providing them with the resources to rebut false claims and to take direct action against offending media institutions.

Donate here.

Previously featured organizations:
Boys and Girls Club
Your Local Food Bank
Girls for a Change
Operation Smile
Wheels for Humanity
National Security Archive
Books for Africa
Seed Savers Exchange
MAP International
The Fresh Air Fund
Electronic Frontier Foundation
Arghand
Impact Personal Safety
Kristin Brooks Hope Center
Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund
Light Up the World Foundation
Planned Parenthood
Doctors Without Borders
Heifer International
Team Rubicon
Kiva
The Carter Center
Bikes Not Bombs
Friends of Maddie
ProPublica
Surfrider Foundation
Livestrong
United Through Reading
Operation Shower
The Liz Logelin Foundation
KidSave
American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
Kids Vs Global Warming
Help a Mother Out
Direct Relief International
WriteGirl
Accelerated Cure for Multiple Sclerosis
Women for Women
Epic Change
Amnesty International